Worse than the prices are the lines that can get very very long. Get there early. Sandwiches were around $8 with some higher and some lower, also some of the grilled cheese were on the small side. Tillamook has free grilled cheese near the entrance. You can have as many as you want but you can only get one at a time and must keep getting in line. It was very warm last year and there's not much shade so bring extra for drinks. I think attendance last year was around 10,000. Enjoy.http://grilledcheeseinvitational.com/

It the past you filled out a form to be chosen as a a judge. This year it was different and you paid a higher entrance fee to be a judge ($12 regular entrance or $17 to be a judge) and they limited that number. All judging this year is sold out. The judging area is separate from the rest of the event and you can only enter with a special wrist band. In that area you can taste and judge as much or as little as you wish. Categories change ever few hours.. There is usually no more than a five minute wait to taste any item in the judging area. They have as many as 50 or more contestants cooking at one time and you vote after each taste.

These are the 4 judging categories:1.Love, American Style – White bread, butter, orange cheese (American or Cheddar). NOTHING ELSE.2.The Missionary Position - Any type of bread, butter and cheese. NO ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS.3.The Kama Sutra - A sandwich of the savory nature, with any type of bread, butter and cheese PLUS additional ingredients, and the interior ingredients must be at least 60% cheese.4.The Honey Pot – Any kind of bread, any kind of butter, and any kind of cheese, and the interior ingredients of the sammich must be at least 60% cheese, PLUS additional ingredients, and with an overall flavor that is sweet and would best be served as dessert.

Something very nice this year Mendocino Farms will be selling the champion grilled cheese sandwich from the invitational May 2nd thru 6th at all locations. All proceeds go to the American Red Cross relief for Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami Victims.http://mendocinofarms.com/fresh-stuff/

This was a huge disappointment. Grilled Cheese Invitational has so much potential! We got tickets well in advance, but the difference between the ordinary vs judging tickets was not at all clear on the website. So for $12 we got entrance, free samples of sponsor foods (a pickle slice, one quarter of a tillamook grilled cheese sandwich after waiting in lengthy lines for each), access to the beer garden, and access to wait in more lines to buy grilled cheese sandwiches sold by vendors (typically $3-5 for 1/2 sandwich). When we tried to see the competition, we were completely denied access. I understand for health & safety issues that unless you are a judge and sign a waiver, you can't taste the competition sandwiches, but at the very least they should let spectators take a peek at the crazy concoctions people were grilling up. Next year, I'd be a judge or skip the Grilled Cheese Invitational altogether and hold my own. Or head over to Clementine - they're serving up interesting varieties of grilled cheeses all April long.